Dongshan Tourist Area

Dongshan Tourist Area

The Dongshan Tourist Area is located within Fengshuishan Town, Balinzuo Banner, 28 kilometers from Lindong Town, the seat of the Banner government. The area features undulating peaks and rugged mountain terrain. It earned the name "Dongshan" (Cave Mountain) due to the abundance of caves—there are 108 natural and man-made caves of various sizes scattered across the mountains, making it truly a world of caves.

There are large and small caves, round and flat ones, deep and shallow, straight and winding, as well as open and hidden caves, varying in shape and elevation. Notable ones include the Water Curtain Cave, Chaoyang Cave, Pigeon Cave, Bat Cave, and Changxian Cave. The area also boasts numerous cultural relics from the Liao Dynasty, including dozens of relief Buddha statues and ruins of ancient Liao temples and structures. The ruins of the Pingdingshan Yunmen Temple from the Liao Dynasty are situated here.

In a mountain hollow in Dongshan’s Xiaobeigou Valley stands a “Stupa of the Buddhist Dharani Sutra of the Victorious Buddha-Crown” dating back to the 10th year of the Qian Tong era of the Liao Dynasty. According to inscriptions on the stupa, today’s Dongshan was once the site of the Pingdingshan Yunmen Temple of the Liao Dynasty. There are several ancient temple ruins throughout the mountains, but there is no consensus on which one was the actual location of the Liao Yunmen Temple. Some say it was on the platform west of the Buddha Light Wall under the Water Curtain Cave, reasoning that two mountains stand opposite each other to the north of the platform like gate towers, often shrouded in drifting clouds, hence the name “Yunmen” (Cloud Gate). On the platform sits the ruins of a Liao Dynasty temple, believed to be the Yunmen Temple.

In the early years of the Republic of China, a Guan Yu Temple was built on the platform but has long since fallen into disrepair. In recent years, three main halls have been reconstructed on the foundation of the former Yunmen Temple, collectively named the “Cizhi Hall,” housing statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Vajrapani Bodhisattva. To the east are three side halls called the “Guan Sheng Hall,” enshrining the statue of Guan Yu, the God of War. To the west are three monk rooms, and further west lie six rooms of the “Thousand Buddha Hall.” This architectural complex, carrying on the legacy of the Liao Dynasty, is collectively referred to as the “Yunmen Temple.”

The Dongshan Yunmen Temple is at its most picturesque in spring, summer, and autumn. With crimson walls and red tiles, gleaming rooftops, serene ancient caves, and fragrant blossoms and fruits, the scenery is breathtaking. In spring, the area bursts into colorful blooms; in summer, lush greenery abounds along with bubbling streams; in autumn, thousands of acres of fruit trees paint the entire scenic area in vibrant reds, laden with ripe, fragrant fruits—earning it the reputation of a “Mountain of Flowers and Fruits.”

The famous Water Curtain Cave is located halfway up Pingdingshan Mountain. It is man-made, with an entrance facing east that is over 10 meters high, 8 meters wide, and nearly 40 meters deep. The cave remains warm in winter and cool in summer. Inside, a colorful Buddha statue is carved, and a spring gushes down from the cliff, cascading over the platform and into a pool at the foot of the mountain.